A GYM was back in business just two days after a blaze ripped through a row of shops in Westhoughton.

BodyTORQ Fitness was one of six businesses affected when the fire destroyed the row of buildings on Sunday night - but now the gym has held its classes outside and at Hope Community Centre in Central Drive.

The gym in Wigan Road, which only opened in February, suffered water damage from the fire, but this did not prevent it from opening again in its new surroundings by Tuesday.

Lee Hill, aged 29, co-owns BodyTORQ with his friend Mike Jackson.

The duo invested up to £50,000 to open the gym in the former Blockbusters building.

Mr Hill, who along with Mr Jackson has been to Afghanistan as an engineer and army fitness instructor, says their experience of fighting adversity is what has helped them get their business get back up and running.

He said: “We are quite a new business so for something like this to happen was devastating.I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the fire — I thought we’d be inundated with cancellations, but thankfully all our members have pulled together and the support we’ve had has been fantastic.

“A common motto of mine and Mike’s is ‘adapt and overcome’, which we’ve had to use in this situation.

“We have dealt with worse than this, so we know how to cope.”

BodyTORQ has about 100 members and holds fitness classes every day, including circuit training and bootcamp.

Since the fire, it has held classes at Westhoughton Park and the Hope Community Centre.

Mr Hill added: “I want to say a massive thank you to Hope Community Centre for doing their utmost to help accommodate us.

“I can’t even describe how grateful we are to the Westhoughton community. We’ve had cakes and cards and people sending us their best wishes.

"It shows a real strength of character so we can’t thank them enough for sticking by us.”